The Moon Still Rises
by DangitJohn
Summary: Loki is the ruler of Asgard... And he needs one more power to secure that rule. Plus: Adventure, (maybe some) Romance, and a really mad brother. Full summary can be found inside the story.


The Moon Still Rises

Well, I suppose that this is the ever present disclaimer/introductory paragraph! I will say what needs to be said so that all of you can get on to what is (hopefully) truly important to you; reading my story.

I do not own ANYTHING. Loki and Thor and the rest were believed in for CENTURIES before I was around, and if you think that that was because of me, you are mistaking me for some sort of deity, which I am clearly not.

Darn.

I am also not anyone working at Marvel, so I do not own that colourful aspect of Thor's 'existence', either.

And clearly, I am no Jonathan Stroud, or else the infamous end of the Nathaniel portion of the Bartimaeus sequence would not have ended how it did. (And also, it probably wouldn't have been written as well, either, so of that you can be glad)

Also, as promised, the full length summary can be found below, if you so choose to read it.

If you would like to just scroll past, well, that's fine, too.

* * *

Summary

You all know of the story; Loki, assumed to be the brother of Thor, son of Odin, finds out of his true heritage and helps them plan an attack on Asgard. Things go wrong, banishment to Earth (Midgard), blah, blah, blah, Loki tries to take over Earth, gets the crap beat out of him by a huge green guy, and finally all of them are back on Asgard.

Loki in jail, and so on. They break him out, they have a little fun with the dark elves, and Loki fakes his own death.

But, SURPRIZE! He's not actually dead! So clearly, he has to claim the throne. And that's where we leave off in Asgard… But how does the infamous John Mandrake get sucked into the equation, you may ask? Well, to say the least, he was a professional in a magical skill that Loki did not yet have…

And the rest, as they say, is history.

* * *

But, onto the story at hand. And where we leave off is with Loki, watching Thor leave the Asgardian palace. He smiled at his own cleverness as he changed back to his true form… Oh, yes, things were going very, very well…

Odin was dead (or at least, that's what Loki thought at the time) Thor was going to decline kingsmanship, and there was clearly now only one person fit to rule Asgard; him. But that would have to come later; first he had to make sure that he was actually as powerful as he thought himself to be.

Loki knew magic. He knew the illusions that were needed; he had been taught them by Frigga- his… Well, he wanted to say that she was his mother.

But she wasn't, of course. He was adopted. Nothing about that was going to change.

Unfortunately.

But what, Loki wondered, about other kinds of magic? There had to be some that even he did not know about… And he would have to learn them, or at least the most powerful of them.

That was what he was going to do…

That day, Loki took the form of Odin until nightfall. He had to make sure that the people still believed that their beloved king was alive and well, until he no longer needed them to think otherwise. They were armed and wary now, what with the business with the Dark Elves, but soon they would be put off their guard.

And on that day, Chaos would finally rule.

Loki grinned to himself. How perfect.

But first, he had to learn the ways of the powerful magic.

That night, Loki went into the Royal Libraries. He had been there so many, many times when he was younger, and even more recently, when Frigga had given him all those books and he had- no, he couldn't think about that. All it would do would be to make him soft. That was, well, unacceptable.

That night, he threw himself into the study, and before dawn broke, he had found what seemed to be the most powerful one. It was called Summoning.

With that knowledge, Loki fell promptly asleep, not bothering to lock himself in Odin's chambers. It was a bit reckless, and if anyone found him, well…

But that was beside the point. He had found something important, and he deserved sleep.

And he sure did get some…

* * *

Loki woke to the sounds of heavy footsteps. It woke him up right away, it did. In fact, it was rather lucky that those guards had such loud shoes (or unlucky, depending on who's side you're on) because that was the only thing that let Loki have enough time to change his guise to that of Odin.

Those loud shoes saved his life.

One such guard walked in and looked over the state of the King.

"Sir, were you in here all night? The other guards have been looking for you…"

"Yes, I was, guard, so get back to your station and watch out for intruders! It is none of your business where a king does and does not stay!"

"Yes, sir."

The guards walked out of the room quickly. They were just as scared of Odin as they always had been, and that put a smile on Loki's face. No sense in letting the guards notice a change… He thought. And plus, it's fun to scare them…

As soon as the puny guards left, Loki's thoughts went right back to the important matter at hand; the Summoning powers. He had to learn them.

Looking back at the book, he saw what it said.

Written in the old writings, the Runes, it was inscribed 'Possibly the most potent form of magic attempted by mortals of any of the nine realms. It is found, quite surprisingly, in Midgard, by some of their leaders, who call themselves Magicians. In Asgard, none of the citizens know the art in modern times, but the ancestors before us tried and reported that it seems to work differently here than in Midgard. Beware this ancient magic; there are no books to teach available in Asgard. Typically, it was taught as an apprenticeship.'

Loki's eyes narrowed as he looked at the words. But he knew what he had to do now… Yes, he was going to have to go to Midgard and force one of the Magicians to teach him their trade.

But how to do so?

* * *

The next few days were spent with Loki making a 'meat copy' of Odin's form. A meat copy was a type of illusion that he had learned long ago and used a few times; you got a hunk of some dead animal or another, and then put an illusion on it to make it act and look like the form you wished for it to take.

This lasted for about a year, more if the magic was good, less if it was bad.

Loki's magic was very good, and complicated, so that one would probably have lasted about three or four years. (Asgardian years) Well, he only needed it to last for a few days…

And with that, he was off to Midgard. His brother's precious Earth.

* * *

Where to start, then? Not in America; he had been there before, and it didn't seem as if much 'magic' existed there. No, he figured, go to a place where he had been before. England would work, for starters…

That's where he turned up. In the middle of bustling London.

"Hello Earth…"

He muttered under his breath.

"Miss me?"

A woman walking by with long black hair and a cold expression glared at him. "Freak."

This was not lost on Loki. "Excuse me? My ears must have deceived me… I thought I heard you insult me? But surely, you wouldn't because you have to know who I am?"

"No, I don't, but I think that you might recognize me. I am a prominent member of the Parliament, as well as a magician, whereas you are a filthy commoner. So, sir, get out of my way, or I will make sure that you and your entire family get visits from a few Afrits!"

She shoved past him. Loki was mad now, yes, but he also recognized a small victory. She was a Magician, which meant that he was right. They did exist there. Now all he had to do was find the most talented one to teach him their trade…

Turning into a small fly, to follow the woman better, Loki waited.

He got to the Parliament building as the dark haired woman did, and followed her around. For most of the day, that was quite boring, but finally, she went into a meeting of sorts… Right into a room filled with people. All of them were quite visibly powerful, or at least, that's what they thought of themselves.

Surprisingly, along with the large amount of old men and woman with four chins, arguing with each other, there were two younger looking ones. One of them, the woman with the Dark hair, who might have been about seventeen, and a boy. The boy was the surprising one; he could only have been about fifteen or sixteen at most. And yet, he carried himself in a self assured way.

Like he was one of them.

After the meeting, as everyone was going back to their fancy mansions, or wherever they lived, the Dark Haired Girl pulled over the young Boy.

Intrigued, Loki flew closer.

"Mandrake. You and I are the most powerful magicians of the bunch. You have possibly saved everyone in this room about four times over. So? Why are we waiting on the old men? We should be in power."

"You're right, Farrar. But how? Us against them, and Devereux's afrits would kill us every time. My Bartimaeus would never even stand a chance…"

"Well… We can talk about this more tomorrow. I have to go. But listen! You know it just as much as I do; they're weak, and we're strong."

"You're right…"

She walked away, leaving the boy staring after her. But Loki didn't follow Farrar, or whatever her name was. Now, he was interested in the boy.

She called him one of the most powerful ones, and he seemed to be very young. There was definitely a certain power about him that the others did not have, not even Farrar.

Yes, Loki decided, this would be the one that would teach him how to work the Magician's craft.

"John! My good boy! You're going to attend tonight's showing of the Swans of Araby, yes?"

The boy visibly flinched. "Um… Yes, sir! I would love to see it again… For the ninth time… This month…"

"Very good! I'll see you tonight, then."

John Mandrake, then. Loki thought. Knowing the child's name would prove handy… Very handy. He knew that. As the boy walked out of the building, and then home to his posh apartment, Loki was chuckling to himself in glee. The boy went in, and when Loki was sure that Mandrake couldn't see, he became himself again.

* * *

Nathaniel took his shirt off, ready for a hot shower. Oh, yes… That sounded so nice… Especially after the stress of talking to Farrar. That was the third time she had suggested rebellion… And he liked the idea, but how to do it?

But before the young boy could relax and get ready for seeing that awful play for the millionth time, there was a knock at the door.

Bartimaeus materialized in the guise of that Egyptian boy that he was always in.

"Oy! Natty! There's someone here for you!"

Hastily putting his shirt on again, Nathaniel glared. "You idiot! What if they heard you!"

"Then they could kill you, and the world would be a better place?"

With a final glare, Nathaniel walked out of the room and opened the door.

Standing there was a man with greasy black hair and a wolfish grin. Nat knew that he shouldn't have opened it, but… Well? What could he do now?

"Mr. Mandrake. I have a proposition for you…"


End file.
